With New Hampshire well into the swing of the presidential primary season, a new podcast from NHPR explores how the state has kept hold of its first-in-the-nation primary status.

It's called Stranglehold, and the first episode is out now. It's called "The Guardian," and it examines the role of Secretary of State Bill Gardner, the man who's been called the "Guardian" of the New Hampshire primary for decades.

Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with Stranglehold co-hosts Lauren Chooljian and Jack Rodolico about the new podcast, which will run right up to the 2020 presidential primary.

New Hampshire Democrats – and nearly every candidate seeking their party’s nomination for president -- were in Manchester Saturday for the state Democratic convention.

Ruth Davis of Durham, who wore a button for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said seeing so many candidates up close would prompt many voters, even ones who think they’ve made up their minds, to reassess the field.

Almost all of the Democrats running for president will appear at the state party's convention in Manchester this weekend. But long before many of the candidates started showing up at conventions, cookouts and coffee shops, they’ve been steering money toward local Democratic committees and campaigns here in New Hampshire.

Congressman Chris Pappas spoke with The Exchange on a variety of issues including climate change legislation, background checks, and the I-93 expansion. Here are some highlights from that conversation.

Joe Biden was under scrutiny for a report that a war story he recounted on the campaign trail was riddled with inaccuracies. As he sat for an interview earlier this week, he responded, "The details are irrelevant in terms of decision-making."

After a labor day weekend that saw another mass shooting, this time in Odessa Texas, gun policy is on the minds of many Democratic primary voters.

When Bernie Sanders spoke in Epsom Tuesday, his focus was healthcare, but when asked about guns by a member of the crowd, Sanders pledged to fight for universal background checks and to limit the availability of so-called assault weapons.

"More and more Americans - and I - certainly believe we should ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons," he said.

A federal lawsuit challenging New Hampshire's new voter residency law will move forward toward a likely January 2020 trial, after state attorneys failed to convince a judge that it should be thrown out because it would not change any voting requirements.

It's been seven weeks since the Executive Council voted on party lines to reject Governor Sununu's nomination of Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to be Chief Justice of New Hampshire's Supreme Court. And councilors say Governor Sununu hasn't indicated his plan to fill the vacancy to lead what is now a four member court.

Rolando Cantú is originally from Texas, and is now a junior at American University in Washington, D.C. But I caught up with him a few weeks ago in Berlin, New Hampshire, where he was helping set up tables and chairs in a packed catering hall, before Sen. Bernie Sanders was scheduled to speak.

Former congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas took a break from the campaign trail earlier this month to spend time in his home town of El Paso, where a gunman shot and killed 22 people at a Walmart. When he resumed campaigning, he did so with a sharper tone, and one directed at President Trump.

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang tried to set his climate change plan apart from the rest of the Democratic field at an event in Portsmouth on Monday. Yang had been criticized recently for saying on the Democratic debate stage that the solution to climate change is to "move to high ground."

On the banks of the Piscataqua River Monday, the venture capitalist said that stance is about accepting some harsh scientific truths.

Change versus restoration: it’s a key question, maybe the key question, facing Democrats as they ready themselves to pick a nominee to challenge President Trump.

That question was on the minds of many voters in New Hampshire this weekend as they welcomed a half dozen candidates, including two who put that question in stark relief: the most experienced Democrat running, former Vice President Joe Biden, and the youngest Democrat in the race, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Michael Bennet was about as fired up as he ever gets at the Iowa State Fair's Political Soapbox, railing against Bernie Sanders' health care plan — but politely.

"I respect him because he tells the truth about what's in his plan, but I disagree that that's gonna get us universal health care in America," said Bennet, a Colorado senator and decidedly lower tier Democratic presidential candidate.

Joe Biden won't be among the parade of White House hopefuls in California this week, skipping the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting to campaign in New Hampshire instead.

The former vice president will have the nation's first primary state essentially to himself as his top rivals jockey for attention from hundreds of Democratic officials gathered in San Francisco for the party's last national meeting before presidential voting begins in February.

While late summer can be a quiet time on the presidential primary campaign trail, many Democratic candidates face a crucial test in the coming days: either qualify for the next round of televised debates, or risk losing relevance.

That urgency was on display as candidates made the rounds this weekend in New Hampshire.

U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster joins The Exchange to discuss legislation and policies she's been working on in Washington, D.C., as well as recent state and national news. She serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

This conversation airs live at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 20th, and again at 7 p.m. Audio and transcript of the discussion will be available shortly after the conclusion of the program.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the former law professor and consumer advocate from Cambridge, Mass., has long talked about fighting for progressive reform, everything from tax policy more supportive of the middle class to gun safety.

As she campaigned around Iowa, a sign on the side of her RV reads, "Honk if you want big structural change." It was a good start to a conversation with the NPR Politics Podcast, in a series partnership with Iowa Public Radio and New Hampshire Public Radio.

While Governor Sununu and Democratic lawmakers say they want to make a deal on the state budget, neither is giving much ground, and both are working to frame a debate that doesn't look likely to end soon.

In June, Governor Sununu vetoed the state budget passed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature.